Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Khan Jieli has led an army of over 100,000 men south to attack Jingzhou, and has now advanced all the way to Wugong..."

Ganlu Temple.

At this moment, besides Li Shimin and the old ministers of the Prince of Qin's mansion, Wei Zheng and Pei Ji were also standing here.

This can be seen as Li Shimin's statement to the former officials of the Crown Prince and the retired emperor.

However, at this moment, neither Pei Ji nor Wei Zheng could care about the Crown Prince and Li Yuan.

"Your Majesty, we must mobilize troops as soon as possible to stop the Turks, otherwise, given the speed of the Turks' army, they may soon endanger the capital!" Pei Ji spoke first.

Fang Xuanling also hurriedly echoed.

"That's right, Your Majesty. Right now, all our troops in Chang'an combined number only a little over ten thousand. If the Turkic barbarians were to reach Chang'an, the nation would be in grave danger!"

Du Ruhui: "Besides deploying troops to resist the Turks, Your Majesty, we should also immediately send envoys to rebuke the Turks for violating the alliance and breaking their promises. Troops from all regions should also be mobilized as soon as possible to aid Chang'an."

Everyone chimed in, sharing their strategies for resisting the Turks, both military and diplomatic.

But not a single person backed down at that moment.

Even though Wei Zheng and Pei Ji were not from the Qin Prince's mansion, they were not worried about being defeated at all.

After all, the current emperor of the Tang Dynasty is Li Shimin, the Grand General of the Heavenly Strategy.

Even though the court officials and noble families are now secretly cursing Li Er for killing his brother and imprisoning his father, calling him an inhuman son, no one dares to deny his formidable military talent.

What everyone was worried about was that if they went to war with the Turks, the world that had finally stabilized would probably fall into chaos again.

However, at an emergency court meeting convened by Li Shimin that very day, he publicly announced this matter.

Officials from various departments in the imperial court were in an uproar.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue's treasury currently has no sufficient funds to support the war effort. The grain reserves in Chang'an are also a problem, and we need to urgently transfer them from surrounding granaries."

Minister of Revenue Cui Minshi anxiously stepped forward.

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin frowned immediately: "Then we'll make an emergency deployment!"

Cui Minshi looked embarrassed, but still bowed again.

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

However, just as Cui Minshi returned to his seat, another figure suddenly stepped out from among the officials.

"Your Majesty, the Turkic bandits are currently advancing with great force. I fear their actions are not merely for plunder, but rather they may be eyeing the imperial treasures of our Central Plains. The situation has only just stabilized after the Crown Prince's rebellion. If the Turks were to besiege the capital, the people's hearts would be unsettled. I request that the troops of Chang'an be mobilized to defend against the enemy..."

Li Chengqian looked at the other person calmly.

He was currently dressed in the crown prince's court robes, and he already knew the identities and backgrounds of the court officials perfectly well.

Following Cui Minshi, the Minister of Revenue, another person stepped forward to offer advice, and that was none other than Wang Ming, the Vice Minister of War.

One was the Cui family of Qinghe, the other the Wang family of Taiyuan...

One side said they had no supplies and needed to mobilize them from surrounding areas, so they couldn't go to war.

Another argument was that the government should take the initiative to send troops, even implying that Li Shimin should personally lead the expedition.

Li Chengqian could almost have guessed what this plan was all about.

If their father really does lead the former generals of the Prince of Qin's mansion to the north to resist the Turks, as they say, the moment the army clashes with the Turks will probably be the time for another palace coup.

At that time, whether it is the restoration of the retired Emperor Li Yuan, or any of the hidden crown princes among those imprisoned in the palace, such as the Prince of Anlu or the Prince of Hedong, will be put on the throne.

At that time, the Li Tang dynasty will probably truly belong to the five surnames and seven clans.

In that short time, more than a dozen officials from the five surnames and seven clans, along with some officials who were related to the other party by marriage, stepped forward.

He appeared generous and magnanimous, as if Li Shimin would not have ordered troops to defend against the enemy at this moment.

He was like a weak and incompetent monarch.

Clearly, Li Shimin and other veteran officials of the Prince of Qin's mansion quickly realized the intentions of these guys.

Cheng Yaojin's eyes widened in anger, and he was about to explode.

At this moment, Li Chengqian suddenly walked out slowly.

He bowed slightly to Li Shimin.

"Father, I request permission to fight!"

The powerful ministers who had just been threatening to use righteousness to coerce Li Shimin out of Chang'an to fight were instantly stunned.

"Father, you are the Son of Heaven. Now that the barbarians are invading the south and the court is unstable, it is precisely the time when you are needed to govern the country and stabilize the court. As the Crown Prince, I should share your burdens and am willing to serve as a deputy general, leading the Eastern Palace guards to meet the enemy."

"Father only needs to appoint a few generals!"

Standing among the assembled officials, Wei Zheng looked at Li Chengqian, who, in the face of the Turkic invasion and the coercion of powerful families, had taken the initiative to stand up and share Li Shimin's burdens. A complex look flashed in Wei Zheng's eyes.

If Li Jiancheng were sitting on the throne right now, and if the one standing up to share his father's burdens were the Prince of Anlu, how wonderful that would be.

However, this idea only existed in Sumeru's mind before he immediately dismissed it.

Leaving aside the fact that the Turks did invade southward when the Tang Dynasty was first established, judging from the reaction to the proposal to move the capital by Crown Prince Li Jiancheng at that time, the Turks were at most just a ruler who wanted to maintain the status quo.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the powerful ministers like Cui Minshi before turning to his son.

"Chengqian, war is no child's play. Once our Great Tang Dynasty officially goes to war with the Turks, the people of the world who have just begun to recover will likely fall into the flames of war again."

As he spoke, Li Shimin pondered for a moment.

"Yuchi Jingde!"

"The general is here!"

"..."

Li Chengqian frowned slightly as he watched Li Shimin appoint Yuchi Jingde as the General Commander of the Jingzhou Road Army, just as in history, to defend against the Turkic army.

If this were the only arrangement, it wouldn't be difficult for Yuchi Jingde's troops to win, but it would be absolutely impossible to stop the main force of the Turks.

The court assembly, which was practically a public challenge between the powerful ministers and the Qin king's lineage, came to an end.

As soon as Li Chengqian stepped out of the Taiji Hall, a beautiful young woman dressed in black fitted leather armor was already waiting there.

"Your Highness, everything you asked me to prepare has been completed."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Li Chengqian's eyes. He turned around and glanced at the aristocratic officials who were gathered in twos and threes as they came out of the Taiji Hall. He let out a soft snort.

"Take these things and come with me to see the Emperor!"

When Li Chengqian appeared outside Ganlu Hall with his personal bodyguard, Qian Yingying, who was summoned from the simulated world but was actually the leader of his secret agents, he was present.

Even from a great distance, one could clearly hear his father's angry roar.

"The Cui and Wang families are truly audacious! Do they really think that I can be manipulated at will just because the Turks have invaded the border? This is utterly outrageous!"

"Hmph! They want me to leave Chang'an? Hahaha, they've got some nerve! Do they even want the retired emperor to be restored to the throne?!"

Li Chengqian gestured with his eyes for Wang De, who was waiting outside the door, to retreat with the surrounding eunuchs, trembling with fear.

He simply carried the wooden box in his hand and walked inside.

"It was inevitable that the aristocratic families would target us. Why is Father Emperor so enraged? Since we can't wipe them out completely, why not think about how to make these wolves of the aristocratic families obediently serve as our loyal dogs..."

Li Shimin was slightly out of breath.

The anger on his face had not yet subsided when Li Chengqian entered.

"Hmph, they even want the aristocratic families to act as their loyal dogs. If I had a way to deal with this, would I need to get so worked up here?"

Li Er glared at his crown prince with annoyance.

But Li Chengqian smiled faintly and took out two items from the small wooden box he had brought.

“Father has not asked me for the contents of that scroll these days, so I had the artisans in the Eastern Palace make it ahead of schedule.”

A stack of slightly yellowed papers and a small porcelain jar were placed in front of Li Er by Li Chengqian.

"This is... the improved papermaking technique you mentioned, and also the salt?"

Li Shimin and the others in the Ganlu Hall immediately moved closer.

Li Chengqian nodded with a smile, but to Pei Ji and Wei Zheng, that smile resembled that of an executioner staring at the necks of aristocratic families on the execution ground.

"In our Great Tang Dynasty today, there are many powerful families in various regions, but the only ones that truly deserve the attention of the imperial family are the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families, which have existed for hundreds or even thousands of years."

"As the saying goes, dynasties come and go, but powerful families remain..."

At this point, Li Chengqian's voice carried a hint of sarcastic laughter that was difficult to decipher.

Li Shimin's eyes gleamed as he carefully stroked the paper in his hand, which, in Li Chengqian's opinion, was still somewhat lacking in quality.

It was as if they had seen some supreme treasure.

"Your Highness, I wonder to what extent this newly improved papermaking technique can drive down the price of paper?"

Pei Ji asked cautiously.

Li Chengqian turned his head. This old prime minister who had followed his imperial grandfather was no ordinary person.

He chuckled and casually raised one hand.

"This ream of paper in front of Prime Minister Pei is priced at this amount."

"Fifty coins?! Wow! This stack of paper is enough to bind a book, and it only costs fifty coins?!"

Pei Ji looked horrified, twirling a tuft of beard he had plucked out sometime earlier, without even noticing.

Li Shimin and others were overjoyed.

Fang Xuanling was so excited that tears streamed down his face: "Your Majesty, I congratulate you on obtaining this divine artifact! With such exquisite papermaking technology, our Great Tang Dynasty will surely prosper in the future!"

Du Ruhui and others also offered their congratulations.

however.

Li Chengqian suddenly chuckled and shook his head smugly under everyone's gaze.

"Uncles and elders, when did I say it was fifty coins?"

Everyone was stunned.

But then Li Chengqian curled the corners of his lips and softly uttered two words: "Five coins!"

Boom!

Like a thunderclap suddenly exploding in a clear sky, the price of five coins caused Pei Ji, the oldest person present, to suddenly feel his legs go weak. If Wei Zheng hadn't been quick to catch him, he would have been in trouble.

At this moment, the other party is probably going to suffer a serious injury.

"Five, five coins?!"

Pei Ji's eyes were so deep-set that they almost popped out.

When he uttered those words, his voice trembled and went off-key.

Li Chengqian nodded.

"The price is five coins, which means that my paper mill can still make a profit with five coins."

"hiss!"

Li Chengqian smiled as he watched everyone's reactions, his gaze falling on Pei Ji, who had the strongest reaction and was most influenced by the mindset of the aristocratic families.

He pointed to the white paper on the table.

"Prime Minister Pei, you are a man of great knowledge and experience. Do you think that if this blank paper were used as paper money for aristocratic families, they would like it?"

Paper money...

Pei Ji's aged body trembled. Li Shimin, who was just about to open the jar to check the salt, paused slightly upon hearing this, his gaze slowly sweeping across Pei Ji's face.